“1963: The Year of Hope and Hostility” just published, offers a crucial new view of many of America’s most shocking and profoundly formative occurrences, a view that sharply clarifies many of today’s racial and social crises.

Author Byron Williams, the only reverend/syndicated columnist in the country, has been since 2002 the pastor at Resurrection Community Church in Berkeley. He is also the writer of a twice-weekly social/political column for the Oakland Tribune, a featured writer for The Huffington Post, and the author of Strip Mall Patriotism: Moral Reflections of the Iraq War.

His column appears in 15 publications and several progressive websites across the country. In addition, his articles have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, the UK Guardian, Tikkun Magazine, and Public Theology, among other places. He has interviewed President Kennedy, Cornel West, Ted Sorenson, Secretary of State John Kerry, Senator Ted Kennedy, Vice President Joe Biden, social critic Michael Eric Dyson, Michael Scheuer (former Chief of the CIA’s Counterterrorist Center’s Bin Laden Unit) and Maya Angelou.

Pastor Williams has appeared on numerous television and radio news programs, including CNN, ABC Radio, Fox News, MSNBC, and National Public Radio. He serves as a member of People for the American Ways’ African American Religious Affairs, and is religious co-chair for the National Black Justice Coalition. In 2010, his work was nationally recognized with his nomination as “Columnist of the Year” by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).

Cornel West considers Byron’s work “groundbreaking and historic.”

Host Gabrielle Wilson received the degree of Juris Doctor after studying French and International Law at the University of Paris. A host and producer at KPFA since 1999, her major interests include The First Amendment, Marriage Equality, Islamophobia, Education, Judicial Misconduct and the Arts.